Valerio Eliogabalo Torrisi: Gucci's Art Wall Artist and His Intimate Word-Based Practice

Valerio Eliogabalo Torrisi, a Catania-born artist and former Brera Academy student, has created art walls for Gucci in cities worldwide and designed the brand's runway invitations. Creative director Sabato De Sarno discovered Torrisi's work among Brera alumni portfolios, drawn to his word-based poetry on blind walls. Their collaboration began with a group show for De Sarno's first Gucci runway in September 2024 in Milan's Brera district, featuring four ex-students. Torrisi's scarlet-lettered intimate phrases transform private feelings into collective experiences, exemplified by "Ogni tanto, lo so, sogni anche tu, e sogni di noi" on Corso Garibaldi, a wall Gucci has personalized for years. For Artribune's third Focus Moda, Torrisi created six exclusive posters exploring the body. His series "Ancora con tutte queste poesie" repurposes homophobic and transphobic social media comments into a 5-meter-long ink roll, forcing prolonged engagement with hate speech. Torrisi's practice stems from "Devozione nulla" and includes site-specific works for Teramo's Pride month (titled "È stato un fulmine") and an upcoming Seoul exhibition based on coming-out stories from Chingusai, a Korean LGBTQIA+ rights association. He emphasizes that all his works form a single evolving inner dialogue, with no structured method—phrases emerge spontaneously, often from conversations he has only with himself.